Academic and Research Profiles

Here you can search for research staff at Brunel. You can search on the basis of keywords (eg anthropology, mathematics, sustainability) or by staff name. You can also browse staff profiles by subject area using the links on the left.

Name:Research Interests:

People with insight

Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile graduates with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Take a look below at just a few of the inspiring academics and researchers and browse all our staff profiles further here.

Dr Adrienne Barnett practised at the independent Bar in London for over 20 years, specialising in Family Law whilst lecturing in our Law School part-time. In 2013, she completed and published national survey research for the Family Justice Council on factfinding hearings in private law Children Act cases. Adrienne lectures on Children and the Law and Family Law on our undergraduate law programmes. Law Lecturer - Admissions Director

Dr Ashraf Khir is currently researching helping early stage heart failure patients with a minimally invasive heart pump. His research involves multi-disciplinary research with clinicians, engineers, physiologists and biologists. His research directly feeds into his teaching especially modules on artificial organs on our Biomedical Engineering MSc. Professor, Theme Leader of Biomedical Engineering

Dr Astrid Swenson’s research brings her into contact with many fascinating people from across the world and she loves working with other academics, architects, planner and curators to develop how we can use knowledge about the past for improving the present. Astrid teaches on history and memory in Europe, on the politics of heritage and on imperialism and culture: all of her courses are research led. In turn her research is shaped by students’ questions and wonderfully creative projects! Senior Lecturer

Professor Bernadine Evaristo is Professor of Creative Writing. She has written eight books of fiction and verse as well as numerous dramas, creative works and narratives for BBC Radio 3 and 4, theatre productions, poetry, memoir, essays and journalism. She has also undertaken many editorships and writes literary criticism for the national newspapers. Bernadine teaches on our undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing programmes. Professor of Creative Writing

Professor Christina Victor is Professor of Gerontology and Public Health. Her research focuses on the experience of old age in society by exploring why the majority of older people do not experience loneliness and distinguishing those who are always lonely from those for whom loneliness had developed in later life. She’s developing projects to include those living in care homes and older people from minority communities. Professor of Public Health / Vice-Dean Research

Dr Colin Riley, senior lecturer in Music, has been established on the contemporary music scene for over 20 years. His work has been described as ‘beautiful, clever and direct’ by Classical Music magazine and draws on improvisation, new technologies, songwriting and large-scale classical form, embodying a genuine integration of stylistic approaches. He is also a mentor for Making Music’s Adopt a Composer scheme. Senior Lecturer in Music

Dr Dan Bishop is a lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology and a British Psychological Society Chartered Psychologist. His research interests began with the emotional response to music in young athletes and have progressed to the examination of the neural basis for expert-novice difference in anticipation skill. Dan set up on-site psychology services for Brunel’s Sport Scholars and has obtained outstanding results, including two national champions Senior Lecturer (Psychology)Programme Lead, BSc Psychology (Sport, Health and Exercise)

Dr Elizabeth Evenden is a senior lecturer in English, investigating the history of European relations, especially those between England, Portugal and Spain during the period c. 1480 – 1680. Her research highlights the use of printed and visual media to manipulate public opinion about European relations, Christo-Islamic relations, migrants and refugees. Understanding how the media can be manipulated for propaganda purposes is as pertinent a topic as ever. Senior Lecturer in English

Dr Ian de Vere is Head of our Design Department. He is an award-winning designer with extensive industry experience in new product development, design for the public domain, commercial furniture design and educational museum design. Ian combines his passion for design with a commitment to developing industryrelevant graduates with an emphasis on creativity, user-centred design, ethical and sustainable practice, technical expertise and design entrepreneurship. Head of Design Department and Senior Lecturer

Dr Michael Price is Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Director of the Centre for Culture and Evolution. His research focuses on evolutionary social and moral psychology, so he studies how human nature has evolved to engage in social behaviour and make moral judgements about the behavior of others. His most recent research focuses on the evolution of religiosity. Senior Lecturer in Psychology

Dr Farbod Khoshnoud is a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering. His key research area is self-powered and biologically-inspired systems which for example include how to mimic humming birds to hover or insects to fly, solar-powered robotic aerial vehicles (e.g. airships) and autonomous systems/vehicles. What links them all is mechatronics - the combination of systems engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering and computer engineering. Lecturer

Professor Gareth Taylor’s team research and develop advanced computational tools (software and hardware) for the analysis, control, operation, management and design of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Such tools and techniques have been used in over 40 countries worldwide. Professor in Power Systems / Director of BIPS / Theme Leader for Smart Power Networks

Professor Habin Lee is Professor of Analytics and Operations Management in Brunel Business School. His research focuses on big data and analysing it for business benefit. A major strand of his work is developing easy-to-use interfaces so business decision makers can harness the power of data analytics without highly specialist skills. Professor in Analytics and Operations Management, Director, Centre for Digital Governance and Sustainable Operations Management (CBASS), Head, Operations and Information Systems Management Research Group (BBS)

What would happen if you could build a petrol engine with the economy of a diesel? Professor Hua Zhao is proving it is possible by using compression instead of spark plugs for ignition and so achieve a 30 per cent increase in efficiency. The challenges are enormous but their sheer scale means engineering students at all levels at Brunel have the opportunity to be directly involved in cutting edge research. Vice-Dean Research / Professor / Theme Leader for Advanced Powertrain and Fuels

Professor José González-Alonso is Professor of Exercise and Cardiovascular Physiology. His research into the physiological factors that limit athletic performance has contributed to the science behind sports drinks. As an endurance runner himself he’s proud of his influence in the development of cooling jackets to improve athletes’ endurance and performance in hot weather competitions. His recent work investigated the mechanisms controlling tissue blood flow during heating and cooling of the legs. Professor of Exercise and Cardiovascular Physiology

Professor Juliette Legler is a Professor of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Her research shows exposure to chemicals induces more fat cells to differentiate early in life, and has uncovered clues as to how these chemicals promote these ‘obesogenic’ effects. Her teaching in toxicology is clearly related to her research, as she often provides examples to demonstrate theoretical concepts. Professor of Toxicology and Environmental Health; Theme Leader of the Environment and Health Theme

Political party membership is in overall decline in the UK; Professor Justin Fisher is researching how the parties in the 2015 general election involved non-member supporters in their campaigning and how campaigning styles have developed. This research feeds directly into his teaching on modules on parties, voters and elections. Head of the Department of Politics, History and the Brunel Law School and Professor of Political Science

Dr Katherine Cashell is a lecturer in Civil Engineering. She is a Chartered Engineer whose principal research interests lie in the area of structural testing, numerical modelling and the development of efficient design guidance for steel and composite structures. She is also actively engaged in researching the use of novel materials such as stainless steel and high-strength steel in building structures. Senior Tutor for the Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Department

Dr Lourdes Lopez-Merino's research focuses on the understanding of the impact that natural and human forces have on the environment. She is particularly interested in whether what we consider as “natural” is really natural or long-term human-induced. She is currently studying a Mediterranean sea grass, Posidonia oceanica, it grows for millennia and although protected, it is declining quickly. Understanding its long-term dynamics may help habitat restoration.

Dr Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci is a Research Fellow using fish models to investigate the multi-scale effects of pharmaceuticals and predict their potential toxicity in both humans and wildlife. He leverages the evolutionary and functional similarities between human and fish biology to develop new methods able to inform drug safety assessment. Luigi is also interested in understanding the role played by low-chronic inflammation in determining behavioural phenotypes in fish that resemble human mental disorders, such as depression. Post-doctoral Research Fellow

Professor Maria Kolokotroni is theme leader for Resource Efficient Future Cities. Her research into technologies and design strategies aims to reduce energy demand by new build and existing buildings and urban areas. Engineers worldwide benefit from her work in technical guidelines and in 2017 her international collaboration on ventilative cooling with the USA, China, Japan and Europe will publish guidelines and design methods. Professor / Theme Leader for Resource Efficient Future Cities

Dr Mark Atherton is a reader of Design Engineering in our Mechanical Engineering department. He has worked with many industrial organisations on product improvements and design solutions including dental drill noise reduction, the fit and comfort of hearing aids, new webcam housing and a portable water purifying device for use in disaster relief. Mark teaches Engineering Design and Product Innovation. Reader of Design Engineering

Dr Monica Degen is a senior lecturer in Sociology and Communications. As a cultural sociologist, she is interested in urban life and how sensory experiences shape how we feel in the city. In her teaching she shares her latest research and knowledge on how urban design and policies impacts on the spatial and political development of a global metropolis such as London and our attachments to place. Senior Lecturer

Dr Mujib Rahman’s research vision is twofold, to design and construct roads in such a way as to minimise surface damage such as ravelling and pothole development and to introduce a step change in the science of road repair. These directly feed into his teaching both at final-year undergraduate and postgraduate level. The research has also led to new commercially available materials to protect concrete surfaces. Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering

Professor Nigel Saunders is the Interdisciplinary Chair of Systems and Synthetic Biology. His focus is upon translational bacteriology and the exploitation of genome sequence-derived information for medical and biotechnological applications. Previously he has addressed meningitis and vaccine development. Currently he is focussed on applications including antibiotic resistance, infection control, and environmental goals including conversion of biodiesel waste. Theme Leader for Synthetic Biology / Interdisciplinary Chair of Systems Biology

Professor Peter Brett is Professor of Bioengineering Systems. His research in surgical robotics focused on tissue guided devices. Peter is producing small robots and hand guided devices to augment delicate surgery accurately and consistently, even though tissues will be deforming and moving. The results enabled surgeons to work beyond human limits in perception and dexterity, and have been deployed successfully in the miniature cochlear implantation process. Professor of Biomedical Engineering / Theme Leader for Biomedical Engineering

Professor Savvas Tassou’s research is particularly relevant to a number of postgraduate courses and modules in the areas of built environment engineering and energy. These courses cover the latest technologies in heating and cooling equipment for buildings and the most appropriate ways that these technologies which have resulted from academic and industrial research can be integrated to provide a comfortable environment for occupants in an energy efficient manner. Director of the Institute of Energy Futures / Professor / Theme Leader for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Technologies

Dr Shashank Virmani is a senior lecturer in Mathematics conducting research into quantum information processing. Quantum computers are powerful computers that process information using systems that obey the fascinating laws of quantum physics. However, it is very difficult to build such devices due to natural imperfections. His current work is about understanding how these imperfections can make quantum computers lose their power over conventional technologies. Senior Lecturer

Tai Frater is an occupational therapist specialising in supporting people with neurological disabilities to participate in their home and community lives. Tai champions the use of technology to enhance learning and has a special interest in teaching evidence-based practice. Her research focuses on participation and inclusive education and she is a trustee of The Elizabeth Casson Memorial Trust, which furthers the occupational therapy profession. Academic (Education) Lecturer

Dr Xiangming Zhou's research on extrusion technology for pre-casting cement-based building products has been applied in industry. Two plants have been built in China and are producing hundreds of tonnes of precast building elements using techniques he developed. His teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level is informed by cutting edge research, he also brings students into his research group. Reader in Civil Engineering and Industry Placement Tutor